Artificial Intelligence in Contemporary Children’s Culture: A Case StudyShow others and affiliations
2022 (English)In: PATT 39: PATT on the Edge Technology, Innovation and Education / [ed] David Gill, Jim Tuff, Thomas Kennedy, Shawn Pendergast, Sana Jamil, Memorial University of Newfoundland , 2022, p. 376-386Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]
The overall aim of the school subject technology is to develop pupils’ understanding of technological solutions in everyday life. A starting point for this study is that it is important for teachers in technology to have knowledge of pupils’ prior conceptions of the subject content since these can both support and hinder their learning. In a previous study we found that when pupils (age 7) talk about digital technology and programming, they often refer to out-of-school experiences such as films, television programmes and books. Typically, their descriptions include robots with some form of intelligence. Hence, it seems like children’s culture may have an impact on the conceptions they bring to the technology classroom. In light of this, it is vital that technology teachers have knowledge about how robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are portrayed in children’s culture, and how pupils perceive these portrayals. However, knowledge about these aspects of technology in children’s culture is limited.The purpose of this study is to investigate how artifacts with artificial intelligence are portrayed in television programmes and literature aimed at children. This study is the first step in a larger study aiming to examine younger pupils’ conceptions and ideas about artificial intelligence. A novice conception of artificial intelligence can be described as an understanding of what a programmed device may, or may not, “understand” in relation to a human, which includes discerning th edifferences between the artificial and the human mind. Consequently, as a theoretical framework for investigating how artificial intelligence is portrayed in children’s culture, the concepts of Theoryof Mind (ToM) and Theory of Artificial Mind (ToAM), are used. The empirical material presented in this paper, i.e. four children’s books and a popular children’s television programme, was analysed using a qualitative thematic analysis. The results show that the portrayal of AI is ambiguous. The structure and function of the robot has elements of both human and machine, and the view of the human fictional characters of the robot is sometimes that of a machine, sometimes of a human. In addition, the whole empirical material includes portrayals of AI as a threat as well as a saviour. As regards implications, there is a risk that without real-life experiences of robots, the representations children’s books and other media convey can lead to ambivalent feelings towards real robots.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Memorial University of Newfoundland , 2022. p. 376-386
Keywords [en]
Technology Education, Artificial Intelligence, Children’s Culture, Theory of Mind, Theory of Artificial Mind
National Category
Educational Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-189717ISBN: 978-0-88901-505-0 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-189717DiVA, id: diva2:1708393
Conference
PATT 39. PATT on the Edge Technology, Innovation and Education. St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada June 21st-24th, 2022
2022-11-032022-11-032022-11-03